Deputies said John Michael Young, 35, was arrested around midnight Saturday at a residence on West Lake Street in Iva.

Y
oung and Shaine David Fischer, both of Anderson, are charged in the deaths of 37-year-old Andrea "Kellie" Mitchell, from Pendleton, and 52-year-old Tony Lamar McGinnis, from Starr.

News 4 has learned Young’s arrest record dates back to 1994 and includes drug and larceny charges. He was charged with criminal domestic violence in 2005.

The tip that let to the arrest came from Young’s longtime friend, Bobby Hall. He had no idea his friend was in trouble until he saw Young's picture on the news and confronted him.

"You come here saying you have wife trouble, now I see your picture on the news. I said, ‘Hey, I got to know something.’ So he told me, he said, 'Yeah, they trying to set me up on that murder charge,’ and he said, ‘Bobby, I didn't have anything to do with it.’

"I said, ‘Man, I know you didn't do this,’ but I said, ‘The situation you in, I said, you know if they come in here now and find you here they're going to put me in prison.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I don't want to see you get in no trouble.’ He said, ‘I tell you what, I'm going to lay here in this chair and go to sleep. You go do what you think you ought to.’ That's the exact words he told me."

Hall said he called police because he knew they were looking for Young.

“After I had to call 911, it was just like turning my own son in,” he said.

On Sunday, Young was charged with two counts of murder and the unauthorized removal of a dead body.

Hours after his arrest on Saturday, Young appeared before Judge James Cox on other charges related to the investigation, including drug and pistol-related charges.

Young is being held without bond at the Anderson County Detention Center.

Deputies said Fischer was already in custody. He is charged with two counts of accessory after the fact of murder. Investigators say he helped dispose of the bodies.

Deputies say Young killed McGinnis and Mitchell by causing blunt force trauma to the head. Investigators say it happened in the woods on Hix Road in Anderson County. They say they believe McGinnis was killed on or around September 15 and that Mitchell was killed on or around October 18.

"I just want to know why all this happened and what was the motive behind it all," Neka Smith, McGinnis' eldest daughter told WYFF.

Smith did not want to discuss what her father's life was like at the time of this death but, instead, hinted at a few problems in a letter she wrote to share with the public.

"My dad was not a perfect man, by no means. He did the things he did and lived the life he lived, but underneath it all, he was still my dad," Smith read. "If he was here today, I still could never ask him to change his ways. I just wish he could have left this world in another way than how he left this world. I will never ever get the chance to tell him good-bye in the way I would have. "

Deputies executed a search warrant at Young’s home on Friday and collected some evidence that News 4’s Mandy Gaither said included knives and a chain saw.

Mitchell's body was found inside a barrel on Wednesday in Lake Hartwell. Coroner Greg Shore said her body may have been in the barrel for as long as 35 days.

Friday afternoon, Shore identified the body in the second barrel as that of McGinnis. Shore said McGinnis' body had been dismembered, but Mitchell's was not.

McGinnis had been reported missing several weeks ago. Anderson County deputies had last spoken to him in September, and no one had heard from him since.

News 4 has learned that Mitchell and McGinnis knew each other and deputies believe they were targeted. Investigators say the suspects were among the victims' group of friends.

Funeral arrangements have been set for Mitchell at the Brown-Ogelsby Funeral Home in Seneca. The family will receive friends Tuesday from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. A service takes place in the funeral home chapel on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

Mitchell left behind a husband, Randy, and two sons, Jacob and Jonathan.

A memorial service for McGinnis is set for 1pm Saturday at Labor of the Fields at 493 Airline Rd. in Anderson.

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